


Bludgered

by feministkrystal (glitterishy)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21780169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterishy/pseuds/feministkrystal
Summary: Jeno was invisible to Huang Renjun, Slytherin Quidditch prodigy and he was fine with that. Until he accidentally hit Renjun with a bludger during the most important game of Renjun's life. Still. Everything was fine.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 20
Kudos: 288
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	Bludgered

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! My prompt was #00255. Hope you enjoy<3

Jeno wished he could say that he wasn’t shallow enough to have only noticed Huang Renjun in their third year like everyone else, but he couldn’t.

He remembered the exact moment that his crush on Renjun began, and he knew for a fact that it was the same moment when Ning Yizhuo, Zhong Chenle and Xiao Dejun all started liking him as well. Not to mention the impetus for Yukhei’s brief fling with the Slytherin boy, though Jeno remembered that time in his life more as an exercise in pretending not to be constantly filled with petulant jealousy.

Their third year was the year that Huang Renjun went from being the annoying little Slytherin kid who always raised his hand before the professor could finish asking the question, to being the brilliant little Slytherin kid who led his Quidditch team to their first House Championship in over a decade at only thirteen years old.

Like the rest of Hufflepuff, Jeno was decked out in Gryffindor garb for that first match of the season, blissfully unaware of the seismic shift that was about to take place in his heart. He was peripherally aware that Slytherin’s new seeker was the obnoxious kid he sat behind in Transfiguration, and if he were to think about it he’d acknowledge that he must have been pretty good to have made the team when he was so young, but like the rest of the school, Jeno hadn’t paid it much mind.

Until, that was, Renjun caught the snitch in under ten minutes, dodging no less than six bludgers to grab it right under the Gryffindor seeker’s nose.

The stadium was quiet for a moment while they processed what just occurred, before erupting into chaos. Even Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were in awe, some clapping for the incredible display, house loyalties and alliances be damned.

“Who _is_ that?” Mark had asked, eyes wide.

Jeno tried to answer, but found that his mouth was dry, like it had been stuffed with cotton. His heart was stuttering a beat he could feel in his stomach, so all he could offer Mark was a helpless whining sound that came from the back of his throat.

Yukhei ended up having to answer. “That’s Huang Renjun,” he told Mark, eyeing Jeno oddly. He grinned, his wide, puppyish Yukhei-grin. “Kinda cute, isn’t he?”

“Kind of?” Chenle shrieked from the row below them, ripping the Gryffindor scarf from his neck like it had been poisoned. “He’s _gorgeous_. Did you see the way he flew? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Jeno agreed. The way Renjun flew was as if the broom was an extension of himself, the way painters talked about their paint brushes. His style was more elegant than it was powerful, like a ballet dancer. It was mesmerizing to watch.

He was mesmerizing to watch.

Jeno spent the rest of the year staring at the back of Renjun’s head in class, watching him go from wallflower to one of the most popular boys in their year, helpless to stop the train as it barrelled past his station, leaving him in the dust without even a backwards glance.

Years later, Renjun was still just as captivating a Quidditch player, popularity only growing as his elegance and allure matured along with him. Jeno was still just as hopelessly captivated at eighteen as he had been at thirteen. Slytherin hadn’t lost a single House Championship since Renjun joined the team, becoming even more formidable when he was made captain in their sixth year.

For his part, Jeno joined the Hufflepuff team his fifth year, mostly just to please Taeyong, the then captain of the Hufflepuff team, who took one look at Jeno’s muscular build and insisted he was born to be a beater. He changed his tune after tryouts, when Jeno dropped his bat not once but _twice_ , only making the team as a reserve beater by default.

Though Taeyong apologized to Jeno for pressuring him into trying out when he clearly had never played Quidditch before, Jeno was pleased with his position. Not only were Mark and Yukhei on the team, it meant that he had the best seats to every game, able to see the smallest detail on the pitch, without the added pressure of his entire House depending on him. In other words, he had the best seats to watch _Renjun_ , which he did, every match against Slytherin, without fail.

Until Yukhei had to go and get sick the night before their Championship match against Slytherin.

In his three years as Hufflepuff’s reserve beater, Jeno had never been required to fill in for an actual game. There was once a close call when Momo fell off her broom and sprained her ankle, but they ended up rescheduling the match instead of continuing it, much to Jeno’s relief. This being his last Quidditch match before he graduated, Jeno assumed he would make it through his entire school career without having the publicly humiliate himself, but naturally, luck didn’t know anyone named Lee Jeno.

That was how he ended up fifty feet above the ground, clutching his borrowed Comet 1000 with both hands, trying not to visibly shake.

“Just try to hang back and you’ll be fine,” Mark advised him in the changing room before the game. He was using his captain voice, strong and steady, but Jeno saw the twitch in his eye that belied just how tense the situation made him. They were the underdogs in the Championship, no one really expecting them to beat the undefeated Slytherins, but there would definitely be scouts for the professional league there. Mark wanted the team to give the match their all.

With Mark’s advice in mind, Jeno stayed out of the action. His team was performing admirably given the loss of their strongest beater and addition of their worst one, but Slytherin was still ahead by almost 100 points.

Renjun was flying above the match, quick eyes scanning the perimeter for any sign of the snitch. Jeno was trying not to be obvious about where his attention went, but he couldn’t help it. His eyes were so used to finding Renjun in any situation, they naturally followed his movement, often without Jeno even consciously realizing it.

His eyes were trained on Renjun’s lithe form when the shouting began. Jeno didn’t hear it at first, so completely occupied with the object of his affection, but as the shouting grew louder and louder, Jeno was forced to take notice.

Somehow, in the absence of his attention on the game, Jeno had ended up in the thick of the action, surrounded on all sides by Hogwarts’ best Quidditch players. His eyes went wide and he almost pulled back, before he saw something that gave him pause.

With his team occupied by dodging Na Jaemin’s bludgers, Lee Donghyuck had somehow managed to sneak past undefended, Quaffle in his grasp. Jeno looked around frantically, trying to catch his team’s attention, but no one was paying him any attention. Though he’d been told not to do anything, he found instinct and determination taking over, squeezing his eyes tight as he raised his bat to knock a bludger in Donghyuck’s direction.

What happened next was a blur. Jeno heard the _crack_ of the bludger meeting his bat, felt its power as it flew to the opposite side of the field. He heard the sound of the bludger making contact with a human body, the tell-tale _crunch_ of bones every Quidditch player was familiar with, the thump of a body hitting the ground from a significant height. Jeno was too afraid to open his eyes, not wanting to see the damage he’d inflicted on Donghyuck, when the sudden eruption of cheers forced him to look.

He was surrounded by his teammates, who were all sporting expressions of raw joy, all directed inexplicably at _Jeno_. The Slytherins were all gathered around the slumped form on the ground, presumably Donghyuck.

“Jeno!” Mark was shouting. “That was brilliant! You were brilliant! When did you get so amazing?”

Jeno felt dazed. “Is the game over? What happened?”

“What happened?” Mark asked, laughing. “You won us the game you absolute legend!”

The Hufflepuff team flew down to the ground and immediately attacked Jeno with bear hugs, causing him to go off balance and fall.

“I still don’t understand,” Jeno said. “How did I win us the game? All I did was hit Donghyuck with a bludger.”

“Donghyuck?” Mark questioned.

It was then that Jeno looked over to the other side of the pitch where the Slytherins were gathered. There he found Lee Donghyuck, standing over the fallen form Jeno had knocked down with a bludger, glaring in the direction of the Hufflepuffs.

Jeno did a quick inventory of the Slytherin team members. All were accounted for, except…

“Oh no,” Jeno muttered, pulling his knees to his chest in horror, rocking back and forth. “This is bad. Really, really bad.”

“Bad?” this was from Koeun, the best chaser in Hufflepuff. “How is it bad? You’re the only person at Hogwarts to have ever knocked Huang Renjun off his broom!”

Jeno let out a miserable wail.

~~~

Apparently, while Jeno was swinging his bat with eyes closed (a move Yukhei wouldn’t stop scolding him about when he found out), Huang Renjun was spotting the snitch and making a quick dive for it. Though he was a distance away from Donghyuck, Jeno’s lack of skill with a beater’s bat lead the bludger way off course, hurtling toward Renjun’s slight frame. With Renjun out of the picture, it was easy for the Hufflepuff seeker to snatch it out from under him, securing a Hufflepuff victory, making them the school champions.

Mark had already gotten several offers from professional teams to try out after graduation, so he was immune to Jeno’s misery. Yukhei was pouting that he’d missed the most interesting Quidditch match since the 90’s, so the only person to offer Jeno any comfort was Jungwoo.

“It’s okay,” Jungwoo soothed, as Jeno moaned in the Common Room, hiding his face with a pillow. “Aren’t you always complaining about how Renjun doesn’t even know you exist? Now he definitely does.”

“Yeah, as the guy who cost him the championship in his final year at school,” Jeno whined.

“Come on, show some house pride!” Yukhei exclaimed. “Slytherin has won every Championship for the past four years, they can afford one loss. If that doesn’t make you feel better, just think about the party tonight. All these years of failure, broken by one epic win, combined with graduation looming on the horizon and copious amounts of alcohol? Tonight’s going to be fucking sick.”

~~~

Yukhei was right in one regard- the night was indeed “fucking sick”, just not in the way he intended it to be.

Within just two hours, Yukhei was resting his forehead on a toilet bowl, body revolting against him after he followed a jug of firewhiskey with two consecutive shots of Muggle tequila as part of a drinking game, all in the name of impressing some Gryffindor girl called Song Yuqi.

“There, there,” Jeno cooed as Yukhei heaved into the toilet, tears drying on his cheeks. He carded his fingers through Yukhei’s thick hair with one hand and rubbed comforting circles into his back with the other. “Let it out. Let all the poor decision making out.”  
Jeno himself felt more than a little buzzed, a couple glasses of firewhiskey doing the job at settling Jeno into that fuzzy mindset where he loved everyone and needed them to know it. He giggled to himself and gave Yukhei a tight back hug, which only succeeded in making Yukhei vomit more.

“Oops,” Jeno hummed, releasing his hold on Yukhei and tracing shapes onto his back. “Bad Jeno. Be gentle with Yukhei. Especially after he has humiliated himself in front of a cute girl so thoroughly.”

Yukhei sniffled. “Yuqi is so pretty. Even with my vomit on her shoes.”

“That’s nice,” Jeno agreed.

“I should go tell Yuqi I think she’s pretty with my vomit on her shoes,” Yukhei decided, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and stumbling shakily to his feet, leaning heavily against Jeno’s shoulder.

Something told Jeno that he couldn’t let Yukhei do that until the morning. He stood and grabbed Yukhei by the arms, poking his broad chest with a finger. “No way Wong Yukhei,” he said, sternly. An idea occurred to him then, a wonderful idea, the best idea that Jeno had ever had. “It’s time to put you to bed.”

Yukhei shook his head. “Not tired!”

“Don’t care,” Jeno huffed, wrapping an ironfist around Yukhei’s wrist and dragging him out the bathroom door. “Bedtime.”

“I hate when you get like this,” Yukhei whined, though he stumbled after Jeno anyway. He was taller and probably stronger than Jeno, but Jeno himself wasn’t exactly much to sneeze at in those departments. Yukhei knew from experience how determined Jeno became after drinking. “I can’t believe I actually miss hearing you drone on about how hot my ex-boyfriend is.”

The thought made Jeno sigh wistfully. “Renjun. Is Renjun here? I want to put him to bed too.”

“That’s so _weird_ Jeno. And no, he’s in the Hospital Wing. Mark told me so. He also told me not to tell- oh. Oops.”

Jeno stopped in his tracks, forcing Yukhei to halt along with him, right in the middle of the party. “Hospital Wing? Why is Renjun in the Hospital Wing?”

Yukhei sighed. “Because you’re bad at Quidditch and shouldn’t have been allowed to play.”

“But that was ages ago. And we have skele-grow! Or spells! What is he still doing in the Hospital Wing?”

Yukhei shrugged, helplessly. “I guess he’s allergic to skele-grow? So Madame Pomfrey brewed him some special potion but apparently it’ll take a couple days to work.”

“Days?!” Jeno exclaimed. “Not only have I lost Renjun the chance at his dream career, but I’ve also caused him days of pain? That’s over 24 hours! This is a disaster.”

Yukhei sighed, giving Jeno’s shoulder a pat. “No it isn’t. Just apologize to him, like I will to Yuqi.”

Jeno’s mind whirled. “Yes… an apology. Good idea.”

“Don’t go to the Hospital Wing until at least tomorrow morning though,” Yukhei said, yawning. “You don’t actually know him so it would be weird if you went now.”

“Right,” Jeno agreed, as he continued to haul Yukhei to the boys’ dormitory. “I will not visit Renjun in the Hospital Wing tonight because that would be weird. Not even to give him apology presents.”

~~~

As Jeno approached the Hospital Wing, clutching his meager peace offering in the form of a chocolate frog he pinched from Mark’s bedside table and the apology note he scrawled onto the back of an old assignment, his legs became heavy. What if Renjun was awake? Even worse, what if Renjun was awake and hated him? Jeno didn’t think he would be able to handle that.

Still, the light buzzing of the firewhiskey in his brain spurred him on and he was about to open the door when he heard the soft murmuring of voices. Through the closed door, he could only just make out what they were saying and he froze when he heard his name.

“I can’t believe you got shot down by _Lee Jeno_ of all people… talk about ironic.”

“Is now really the best time to be discussing that? Also, that’s the third time you’ve misused ‘irony’ this week. At this point, I’m starting to think you’re doing it on purpose.”

“Right, because everything I do is to annoy you. You’re not that special, Hyuck.”

“Excuse me, I’m the _most_ special, thank you very much.”

“Do you guys mind not fighting over my sickbed? It’s very distracting when I’m trying to heal. Also, I’m pretty sure there’s someone lurking outside the door.”

It took Jeno longer than he would’ve liked to admit to realize Renjun was talking about him. By the time he did realize it, the door was swinging open, a hostile looking Na Jaemin at the other end.

“Um,” Jeno began, painfully aware of the flush that spread through his body, probably turning his entire face pink. He ran a finger through his hair. “Hi?”

Na Jaemin’s expression went from hostile to shocked to sly in the span of fifteen seconds.

“Well, well, well,” he hummed, crossing his arms and giving Jeno the predatory smirk all Slytherins seemed to have perfected. “The elusive Lee Jeno, in the flesh. Have you come to finish what you started? Take advantage of your victim while he’s on his deathbed?”

Jeno felt hot all over. He was sure his face was the color of a cherry tomato by now. “Ah, not exactly…”

Thankfully, Merlin must’ve decided to take pity on poor Jeno, because he wasn’t forced to navigate the deathly maze that was Na Jaemin for much longer.

“Is that Jeno?” Renjun’s high and soft, yet simultaneously assured voice called from inside. “Let him in, Jaemin.”

Jaemin stepped aside, gesturing for Jeno to enter, smirk still in place. “Okay, but I’m not taking responsibility for what might happen if it turns out he’s better at offensive spells than our mock duel for DADA in third year would have me believe.”

Jeno gingerly took a step forward into the infirmary, eyes immediately going to Renjun, who was the only occupant. His heart stuttered at the sight. Renjun looked so impossibly small and frail in his hospital bed, yet the way he was looking at Jeno made him feel like _he_ was the tiny one. Donghyuck was lying in bed next to Renjun, a protective arm around his slim shoulders, their heads nuzzled affectionately together.

“Hi, Renjun,” Jeno managed to squeak out. “Thanks for having me.”

Renjun blinked. “I mean… I don’t live here? Also I didn’t invite you.”

“Good point,” Jeno agreed, humiliation setting in. “I’ll just go then.”

He started to turn around to leave, but was stopped.

“Wait!” Donghyuck called. “What’s that in your hand?”

Jeno looked down at his hands, his mind fuzzy and useless at remembering. For some reason, the thought of giving Renjun a gift while he as awake in front of his friend and probable boyfriend only made Jeno more embarrassed.

“‘S nothing,” he muttered. “I should go-”  
His measly gifts were snatched from his hands before he could comprehend that Donghyuck had even gotten out of bed.

“An expired chocolate frog and… the Charms essay that was due last week? I’m not trying to say that an E isn’t impressive, but this doesn’t exactly hold any value to us anymore. If this was a week and one day ago, it might be a different story, but…”

“It’s an apology letter,” Jeno rushed, his words slurring together, trying to hide behind his hands. “Forenjun. Please don’t read it.”

Jeno didn’t know what he should’ve expected. At his plea for Donghyuck not to read it, the Slytherin cleared his throat and began.

_”Dear Renjun,”_ he read, _”I’m so sorry for hitting you with a Bludger during the Quidditch match yesterday. I wasn’t trying to hit anyone, but I thought that Donghyuck was closer to where I was aiming. If I had known it was you, I wouldn’t have hit the ball at all. Not that I give you any more consideration than I do to the average person, but I knew there were important scouts there that day. That’s all. I hope you like the chocolate frog! With love-_ oh, wait that bit’s crossed out, never mind. _Sincerely, Lee Jeno.”_

Jeno winced at the clumsy words he’d hastily written in his drunken decision to visit Renjun’s sick bed, brought to life by Donghyuck’s gleeful, mocking tone.

“Cute,” was all Renjun said, blinking up at Jeno thoughtfully. He unwrapped the chocolate frog and popped it whole into his small mouth, catching it before it could hop away, all without looking away from Jeno. “Really fucking cute, actually.”

Jeno thought he might combust on the spot. That, or melt into a puddle. Both had happened to people in his family before; maybe he would be the first one to do both simultaneously, all because of the majesty that was Huang Renjun.

Renjun thought something he had done was _cute._ Nothing else mattered.

“Wicked,” Jeno managed to say, though he suspected it came out as more of a slur. Either he was tipsier than he thought, or he was falling spellbound to the notorious Huang Renjun effect.

“It’s sweet of you to worry about the scouts,” Renjun continued, graciously ignoring Jeno’s social ineptitude. Jaemin and Donghyuck snickered to each other, doing nothing of the sort. “But there’s no need. I got asked to try out for a couple of teams ages ago, when they saw me play last year.”

Jeno’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s so-”

They were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps tramping down the hall. “Why is there a light on in the Hospital Wing?” the ancient caretaker bellowed. “Lights out after 10 p.m, those are the rules!”

Jaemin pulled Jeno away, Donghyuck at their heels. “If Filch catches us, we’re dead!” he hissed. “Come on, there’s a second entrance out from Pomfrey’s office.”

Jeno let himself be led away, still half-drunk, barely managing to give a smiling Renjun a quick wave before the boy was out of his sight.

~~~

“Want me to read your birth chart?” a voice interrupted Jeno from his Arithmancy revision. “We need to do them for the final project in Divination.”

Jeno blinked down at his book, annoyed. NEWTS were in only a few days and if some starry-eyed Trelawney disciple thought they could distract him from the logical world of Arithmancy than-

Oh. It was Renjun. Huang Renjun, freshly out of the Hospital Wing, grinning across the table at Lee Jeno, like this was something normal and not the beginning to one of Jeno’s favorite recurring dreams.

“Sure,” Jeno hastily agreed, shoving his Arithmancy book aside. “Astrology is very cool and not at all a scam.”

Renjun rolled his eyes. How did he even manage to make cool disaffection look cute? “Don’t sound too convincing there, Jeno.”

Jeno felt a thrill up his spine as Renjun said his name. “Sorry,” he said, running a sheepish hand through his hair. “I’m not very good at… mystic-y stuff.”

“Really?” Renjun laughed and Jeno’s heart seized. How many times had he overheard Renjun’s high, clear laugh over the years? And now it was directed toward _him_. “Even though you’re a wizard?”

Jeno blinked. “What does being a wizard have to do with mysticism?”

Renjun chuckled. “Nothing, just ignore me. You’d think that after so many years of knowing Donghyuck and Jaemin I’d be more used to talking to people who grew up in the wizarding world.”

Jeno’s eyes widened. It wasn’t as if he’d thought about Renjun’s blood status, but there _was_ that reputation Slytherin house hadn’t fully managed to shake, that it wasn’t exactly the friendliest place for Muggleborns. He’d never have assumed Renjun was one.

Renjun’s gaze was wry, as if he could read Jeno’s mind, but he didn’t say anything. He just unfurled a roll of parchment and took out his quill.

“So? What’s your birthday, then?”

The pair spent the rest of the evening in the library, laughing over Renjun’s overly dire reading to his birth chart. Even when Renjun finished his project, they stayed talking, about everything and nothing. Jeno thought he’d be too nervous to talk to Renjun, that he’d constantly trip over his words, but it wasn’t like that at all. They liked so many of the same things, it felt like he was talking to Yukhei or Mark or Jungwoo.

In fact, it didn’t fully hit Jeno that he was talking to the person he’d been in love with for years, until Renjun mentioned one of Donghyuck’s antics in such a fond tone of voice that it made Jeno’s stomach twist. He’d suspected they were dating when he saw them cuddling in the Hospital Wing, but he wasn’t sure until he saw the way Renjun’s eyes lit up while telling the story.

Jeno listened, careful not to let his gaze falter, but he was internally sighing.

~~~

NEWTs finally finished and Hogwarts’ seventh years collectively let out a long breath. Jeno felt lighter than he had in months, certain that he’d performed well, better than he thought he would.

“Where are you going?” Mark called from his bed, watching as Jeno anxiously fixed his hair in their mirror.

“I’m meeting Renjun. We’re going to go for a walk around the lake.”

Mark wiggled his eyebrows. “Sounds romantic.”

Jeno tried to send a withering glare in Mark’s direction, but he knew with his round eyes it probably looked more puppyish than anything else.

“He has a boyfriend.”

“So you’ve mentioned,” Mark hummed. He was moping because he thought he’d failed Transfiguration, but Jeno was sure he probably at least got an Acceptable, so he didn’t feel much sympathy.

“I’ll see you later,” he told Mark. “Try not to drown in your sorrows while I’m out.”

Jeno walked to the owlery, where he’d agreed to meet Renjun with a skip to his step. He was even humming to himself when he heard a rustling from inside the owlery, hushed voices and heavy panting that could only mean one thing.

Jeno scowled, annoyed that people would be so flagrant in a public space. He was contemplating whether to interrupt them when he heard the unmistakable cadence of a familiar Slytherin’s voice.

“Oh Merlin,” Donghyuck’s disembodied voice groaned from inside, causing Jeno to flush. Could that possibly be Renjun and Donghyuck in there? Could Renjun be so unwittingly cruel? “Jaemin, please-”

Jeno froze. For a second he was confused, before the fury set in. He barged into the owlery and loudly cleared his throat.

Donghyuck and Jaemin sprung a part from each other as if an electric charge had gone through them.

“ _Jeno?_ ” Donghyuck exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

“I think I should be asking you two that question,” Jeno seethed. “How could you?”

Donghyuck and Jaemin exchanged a bewildered glance. Their clothes were unkempt, but otherwise they looked acceptable.

“Are you asking how could we make out?” Donghyuck asked. “Because I get that it might _seem_ like a lapse of judgment on my part, but-”

He was interrupted by Jaemin smacking him on the head.

“Why is it any of your business, Jeno?” Jaemin asked, with a frown. “No offense, but we don’t even know you that well.”

Jeno couldn’t believe their audacity. How could they be caught being such awful friends and not even care?

“Maybe not, but I know Renjun, and this isn’t fair to him. I hope you don’t expect me to keep your little secret because-”

“Wait,” Donghyuck interrupted, a sudden clarity spreading across his face. His lips quirked into a smirk. “Do you think that one of us is dating Renjun?”

Jeno blinked. “Um. Are you not?”

Donghyuck snorted. “Oh, God no. I’d even rather make out with Jaemin that with that Divination obsessed weirdo.”

“He’s not weird,” Jeno automatically defended, his mind reeling.

Donghyuck’s smirk turned even more smug.

“You know,” he said, casually. “Renjun was starting to feel a little put out by you Jeno.”

Jeno frowned. “What do you mean?”

He’s been putting out all these signals that he’s interested, but you’ve totally ignored them. I told him that couldn’t be true, that if the years of open staring wasn’t a big enough clue that you were interested, that the drunken apology note certainly was, but he felt positive you didn’t feel the same way he did. He said if you didn’t make a move today he was going to give up…”

“Hngh?” Jeno asked, mouth dry.

“HE SAID THAT RENJUN LIKES YOU,” Jaemin bellowed. “SO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE HIM YOU SHOULD MAKE A MOVE TODAY.”

“Well,” a dry voice cut in from behind them. “It’s nice to know that I have such reliable friends, who would never shout any of my deepest secrets in a public place.”

Jeno swirled around to see Renjun staring at them with narrowed eyes. He was out of uniform, in a red and white striped t-shirt with jeans. Though his stance was just as powerful as normal, there was an undeniable flush to his cheeks that made something inside Jeno ache, but in a nice way. The ache propelled him forward to delicately cup Renjun’s face in his hands and slot their lips together. He was distantly aware of Donghyuck and Jaemin leaving in a flurry of giggles, but it was all just white noise to him.

“Oh,” Renjun said with a hitch to his breath when they separated. “Okay.”

Jeno blanched. “Did you not like it?”

Renjun snorted. “Don’t be an idiot,” he said, reaching up to pull Jeno down to his level. “You’re so fucking hot, I’ve wanted this for such a long time.”

In the end, Jeno couldn’t judge Donghyuck and Jaemin for making out in the owlery for anyone to see. It would’ve made him too much of a hypocrite.


End file.
